Outstanding HR Practitioners honoured at 2019 GHRIA
A total of 43 Human Resource (HR) practitioners, including organisations, were honoured at the 2nd Ghana Human Resource Innovation Awards (GHRIA) 2019.
The event, which took place at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, recognised organisations with excellent HR practices and models, as well as leading practitioners who have demonstrated excellence and innovation in the HR profession.
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The awards are in the second year and this year’s edition was on the theme: “Celebrating excellence in the HR industry”.
The awards are an annual celebration of leading HR practitioners and organisations with topnotch HR models which have made sterling contributions to the corporate sector over the years.
Thirteen organisations stood tall at the awards ceremony, including Melcom Group, Goldfields Ghana, Guinness Ghana, Barclays Bank, ECG, VRA, MTN Ghana, Broll Ghana, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Enterprise Group, the Ghana Exim Bank, SSNIT and DVLA.
Professionals of the year categories
The HR Professional Man of the Year (Private sector) went to the Human Resource Director, Barclays Bank Ghana Ltd, Mr William Easmon, while the HR Professional Woman of The Year (Private sector) went to the Human Resource Director, Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, Dr Hazel P. Berrard Amuah.
The Director, Human Resource, ECG, Mr Lawrence Osei Kuffuor, took the HR Professional Man of the Year (Public Sector), while the HR Professional Woman of the Year (Public Sector) went to the General Manager, Admin & Human Resource, SSNIT, Mrs Joyce Wereko-Ampim Opoku.
Organisations of the year
The Melcom Group was adjudged the HR Innovation of the Year: Retail category, while the HR Innovation of the Year: Mining category and HR Innovation of the Year: Professional Services category, went to Goldfields Ghana and PricewaterhouseCoopers, respectively, while the HR Innovation of the Year Award: Real Estate category, was taken by Broll Ghana.
Employers
MTN Ghana swept three awards, having been adjudged the Outstanding Employee Retention Policy of the Year, the Excellence in Employee Engagement of the Year and the Employer of the Year, while the awards for Excellence in Women Empowerment Strategy of the Year and Excellence in Graduate Recruitment & Development Award of the Year went to Guinness Ghana and PricewaterhouseCoopers, respectively.
Quality of HR
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Labour and Employment Relations, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, whose speech was read on his behalf by the Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission FWSC), Dr Edward Kwapong, said the wealth of any organisation or institution lay in the quality of its HR and how well those resources were managed.
“The importance of the work done by those whose responsibility it is to manage these resources cannot be overlooked.
It is in line with this that I take the opportunity to commend the organisers of this event, Instinct Wave, for providing the platform to recognise and reward hardworking HR experts and professionals for their efforts and contribution to the employment and labour sector of this country,” he said.
Job creation
According to Mr Awuah, unemployment was a national security issue and as a result the government had embarked on an aggressive developmental agenda for job creation as its main focus.
He noted that that was contained in the coordinated programme of social and economic development policies 2017-2024 and actualised with the numerous ongoing government initiatives, most of which went by popular catch phrases such as the Free SHS, One-District, One Factory, One–Village, One Dam, Nation Builders Corp (NaBCo), among others.
“To achieve the Nana Akufo-Addo vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid, quality human resource is a key and essential requirement.
The responsibility of development rests on all players in society and not just the government,” he said.
He reiterated that as a ministry mandated to oversee and manage employment and labour issues of the country, the creation of decent jobs and the welfare of workers were of utmost importance to it.
Celebration of HR practitioners
The CEO of Instinct Wave, Mr Akin Naphtal, in his opening address, said the impact of HR leaders was rarely celebrated or recognised, which was why Instinct Wave had created the platform to reward the efforts and hard work of HR practitioners and organisations.
“We are grateful to stakeholders, partners, HR professionals and organisations for their support, dedication and contribution in making this 2nd GHRIA a success.
I would also congratulate award winners on their efforts, hard work and professionalism and we look forward to another memorable event in the coming year,” he said.